La la land

When people see me sitting with 600-700 page novels, 90% of the time, their response is varying levels of shock, wonder and partial pity on me that I am suffering through so many pages of the written word.
And the very same people who don't know even as many authors as I do(all of 4 - Ayn Rand, Robert Ludlum, Robert Jordan and John Grisham) love to snicker when they see me reading a Mills and Boon.
I don't understand what the big deal is. There was a phase when I went through my share of MnB, way back when I was school. I remember it being totally unrealistic, hopelessly romantic and always with a happy ending. And then I went through a phase for the last 10 years or so where I looked down upon them. How I caught that view, I have no idea! But recently, when I wanted to read a light book, the first thing that caught my eye was an MnB.Predictable plot line, warped sense of feminism, exotic people and location, fairytale romance - it had it all - and surprisingly, I didn't mind it.
I think I got tired of all the novels dealing with the reality of suffering, pain, death, honour, various kinds of subterfuge and the other set of novels set in pure fantasy of dragons, magic, kings and what nots.
This book was such a refreshing change. I tried reading other chick-lit - Danielle Steel-but she kills too many people in her plot - sad touch again. Whereas the dear MnBs restrict themselves purely to the 'tension' of 'does he like me, does he not' and since we know 'he does', we are happy for the heroine too :)
Next time you look down on an MnB, just remember, it could just be your escape into light, reading and some amount of romanticism. Real life is all around you anyways, why go looking for it when you read for pleasure !!